


My Dancing Queen

by BallroomQueen



Series: Emma and Anton [1]
Category: Strictly Come Dancing RPF
Genre: Admitting, F/M, Sadness, after the final, mutual feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:27:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21824401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BallroomQueen/pseuds/BallroomQueen
Summary: After the final, Emma is sad. But is the end of an amazing experience the only reason or might be a certain dancer involved?
Relationships: Anton Du Beke/Emma Barton
Series: Emma and Anton [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1591159
Comments: 6
Kudos: 6





	My Dancing Queen

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, everyone! I'm a massive Anton fan and after he came so close to finally winning Strictly, this one-shot just popped into my mind.

Anton stood by the wall and watched the crowd celebrating. Another Strictly year had come to an end. And what year it had been! He had received his first ever tens in fifteen years and reached the final for the second time. Just the thought of the judges’ scoring in Blackpool brought a smile to his face. And everyone he met always told him that they also thought this was his best year. Anton always smiled and agreed. But the reason for that was something completely different.

Emma.

Dancing with Emma made this year the best of all. She was the kindest and most beautiful human being he had ever met in his entire life. And seeing how her confidence grew with every week and how her love for dance slowly came to the surface made Anton’s heart burst with joy. And over the weeks, living through an emotional rollercoaster with receiving tens and also being at the bottom of the leader board after their Rumba, Anton had fallen in love with Emma. When they were dancing, his arm tightly around her, he got lost in her china blue eyes. Though he loved to dance with Emma, just spending time with her during lunch or tea break had been the hight light of his day for the past three months. The way Emma’s eyes lit up when she talked about EastEnders or her parents filled Anton with a loving warmth.

He sighed as he felt his heart constricting with pain. Now that Strictly was over, he would not see Emma again. Of course he tried to stay in contact with all of his past celebrity partners, but except for a few like Ruth Langsford or Katie Derham, who he still saw quite regularly, he had not seen most of his partners in years. And with Emma’s incredible huge schedule of filming EastEnders, Anton feared his friendship with Emma would find the same tragic fate.

As he looked around the room again, he noticed that Emma was not there anymore. That confused Anton, because he knew how much Emma loved the wrap parties; she was always dancing and just having a good time with everyone. He moved across the room and walked over to Alex, with whom Emma got along the best.

“Hey, Alex! Have you seen Emma?” he asked the former Lioness.

Alex, who was talking with Chris and Catherine, turned to Anton and said, “She just left. But I don’t know where she went.”

“Alright, thank you anyways,” Anton answered and turned to leave the room.

As he walked through the hallways of the studio, he tried to think of a place Emma could have gone to. Anton crossed into the corridor with the restrooms and saw Nadiya standing in front of the ladies’ restroom.

“Nadiya, have you seen Emma by any chance?” Anton asked. He tried to hide it, but inwardly he started to worry. After Kelvin and Oti had been announced winners, Emma was buzzing to go to the wrap party. Just leaving it without telling anybody where she was going was not like her at all.

“I did,” Nadiya answered with a smile on her face. She was always smiling, her blonde hair illuminating her face. “She went into the direction of the dressing rooms.”

Anton returned her ever-lasting smile and said, “Thank you.”

He turned on his heels and headed to where Nadiya had said Emma went to. Without realizing it, he was rushing through the hallways, needing to see that his partner, his beautiful Emma, was alright. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally reached his secret love’s dressing room and knocked on the door.

When he got no reaction, Anton knocked again and asked through the door, “Emma, are you in there? Is everything alright?”

Seconds later, which felt like hours to him, the door slowly opened and Emma appeared in front of him, her eyes red and there were tears on her cheeks. As soon as his eyes landed on her, Anton pushed Emma into her dressing room and locked the door behind them.

He grabbed her hands and asked, “What happened?”

Emma slowly looked up into Anton’s chocolate brown eyes, immediately feeling how the warmth they radiated filled her body. She managed a weak smile and shrugged. “I’m just sad, you know.”

Anton wrapped his arms around Emma and pulled her into a tight hug. He stroked over her hair and said, “I know. We all are. It’s been an incredible year and I will miss dancing with you every day.”

Emma sighed as she placed her head against Anton’s shoulder, taking in the familiar scent she had gotten used to over the past three months. “It’s not just that,” she muttered.

Anton looked down and gently kissed her hair. “What else is bothering you?”

Emma thought for a moment before she said, “It’s nothing important.”

Anton released her and made Emma look up to him. “If it makes you, my beautiful happy dancing queen, cry, it is important. Please tell me.” He tenderly stroked with his thumb over her cheek, a soft smile on his face.

Emma blushed slightly and bit her bottom lip. Then she cast her eyes down and stayed like that.

“Maybe it’s the same thing that makes me feel sad,” Anton pondered. “Should I tell first?”

Emma nodded, her eyes remained fixed upon the ground.

Anton touched her chin lightly with his index finger and pushed it upwards, making Emma look up at him. He stared into her eyes as he leaned in, gently placing his lips on hers. At first he felt Emma stiffening, but she quickly melted into his arms and returned the kiss. Anton wrapped one arm around her back and put the other hand in her hair, throwing all the passion and emotion he had into the kiss.

When they broke apart at last, Anton smiled at his dance partner and pushed a strand of hair from her forehead. “Was this, perhaps, your reason why you were sad?”

Emma nodded, her eyes big and full of shock.

Anton touched her cheek again and said, “Emma, my amazing gorgeous dancing queen. The past three months, my heart swelled with love every time you smiled at me, and it burst with joy every time your confidence grew. Now that Strictly is over, I don’t want our friendship to end. But you would make me the happiest man on this planet if you agreed to see if our friendship might develop into something else. Something more romantic.”

Emma put her index finger on Anton’s lips, not believing what her ballroom king had just said to her. Eventually, her smile returned on her face and she said, “I would love that.”

Anton beamed as he leaned in for another kiss. After minutes of sharing a tender moment, Anton stopped and suggested, “Why don’t we head back to the party? I’m sure by now the others are wondering where we are.” Emma hesitated, so he added, “You will hate yourself for having missed out on the last time everyone was together.” Then he grinned, “And later, you know, my hotel bed is really cold sleeping in it alone.”

Emma’s eyes sparkled and she tugged her arm in his, ready to follow him back to the party. Anton kissed her head before leaving the dressing room, his heart swelling with happiness.

* * *

_ After the wrap party _

Anton looked down at Emma, who had her head placed on his chest, sleeping peacefully, and smiled. He might not have won Strictly, but he had won the heart of a beautiful woman. And that was by far better than any glitterball could ever be.


End file.
